Clare in World War Two / the Emergency
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ClareClare in WW2in WW2 - The / Emergency Emergency - Alphabetical List D Day 1944 - The 2nd US Rangers By Ger Browne The aim of this project is to find out how many men and women from Clare took part in WW2, and the effect of the war on Clare. It is hoped that an extension will be added to the Great War Memorial in Ennis that will include the names of the Clare War Dead from WW2 / The Emergency. At the moment we know that 86 died from Clare as well as in Clare. I would like to thank Keir McNamara, and his late father Peadar McNamara for all their research on WW1 and WW2. Eric Shaw, who has been providing me with amazing WW1 and WW2 information for years, and all the following who have helped make this project possible. Paddy Waldron, The Local Studies Centre, Peter Beirne, Brian Doyle, Guss O’Halloran, Sean Glennon, Jim Molohan, Joe Ó Muircheartaigh, Eddie Lough, Local Parish Booklets, The Clare Champion and The Clare People. I have also named the sources, with many of the names below. I thank them all. The following websites: findagrave website, ancestry.com, fold3.com, http://www.ww2irishaviation.com, and the Commonwealth War Grave Commission. Finally thanks to the Clare Library for publishing all the information, and Larry and James Brennan along with the Clare Roots Society, for all their help. 1 The Armies, Forces and Organisations that Claremen and Women were part of during WW2: Australia Canada U.S.A Great Britain Royal Navy Merchant Navy The RAF Irish Defence Forces / Irish Merchant Navy / Civilians from Ireland / LDF The Red Cross Michael Barnett: Born in Liscannor 15th June 1889. Royal Naval Reserve Service S2850. (UK Royal Naval Reserve Service Records Index, 1860 1955) He joined the Royal Australian Navy in Sept 1912, and served for 5 years. He also served in WW2. He enlisted in Melbourne and his mother was Theresa Barnett, who lived at 349 West Fourteen St, New York. (Australia, World War II Military Service Records, 1939-1945) Edmund Barry: Kilkee. Born on the 28th Aug 1886. Royal Navy 22132. He served during WW2.(Admiralty: Royal Navy Seamen's Services Continuous Record (CR) Cards – The National Archives) Trooper Martin Barry: Kilrush. 18th (5th Bn. The Loyal Regt.) Regt., Reconnaissance Corps 6915422. He died as a POW on the 22nd June 1945 aged 26 in Hong Kong, where he was buried in the Sai Wan War Cemetery. He was the son of Timothy and Kathleen Barry, of Kilrush. From Dec 1941 to Aug 1945 Hong Kong was under the control of Japan. ‘Following inspection by the King on 22 October 1941 the battalion (18th Regiment) embarked on an odyssey that was to end in the tragedy of Singapore…From India 18th Division sailed for Singapore as a result of the worsening situation in the Far East….At about 1100 hours, when the leading ships were close to Singapore and the slowest ship, the Empress of Asia, was south-west of the Sembilan Islands, the convoy was attacked by enemy dive-bombers. The Empress of Asia received several direct hits and soon began to sink....troops had to take to the water owing to fire on the ship…The loss of life fortunately was small, but nearly all weapons and equipment on board were lost... It thus happened that some of these units landed without their equipment. By the end of the war 264 members of the regiment had died as prisoners against 55 killed at the time of the surrender of Singapore. Officers and men of 18 Recce were imprisoned in a camp at Changi until November 1942 when those fit to work were moved to Thailand to construct the Bangkok-Rangoon railway (Burma Railway) which task ceased in mid-1943 after which the prisoners 2 were put to work in labour camps.’ (ww2talk.com) (See Clare in WW2 – The Emergency - Individual Profiles) Edward R. Behnke - LT JG US Navy World War 11. 1917 - 1983 . Drumcliff Cemetery. Calvary. (Flan Hehir) Aircraftman 1st Class Albert Everall Bennett: Liverpool. Service Number 1081395, 201 Squadron., Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve who died age 19 on the 03 December 1941, when his Sunderland Flying boat, crashed into the sea near Doonbeg. Son of Thomas and Annie Bennett, of Liverpool; husband of Norah Elizabeth Bennett, of Liverpool. Buried in Killard Church Of Ireland Churchyard. Killard Graveyard is situated in the townland of Killard, north west of Doonbeg village, Killard Parish. (See Clare in WW2 – The Emergency - Individual Profiles) Lt. Colonel Charles Bingley Benson DSO And Bar MID: ‘Born on 21st August 1876, the son of J.R. Benson, MD, and was known as being a gung-ho kind of individual. After his education, he joined the army as 2nd Lt in the Oxford & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry (1st Green Jackets). During the Boer War, he took part in operations in Orange River Colony and in Cape Colony. During this time, he was mentioned in dispatches and was given the Queen’s Medal with four clasps and was also awarded the DSO for his services in South Africa. In March 1914, he was on retired pay, but then went on to serve in France, Germany and Belgium from 1917-1919 where he was wounded, and again mentioned in despatches and awarded a bar to his DSO. The Lt Col died on the 4th July 1947, and was buried in the old graveyard at Kiltenane where he rests with his wife, Maud Margaret. The plain cross which once was on top of his headstone had been dislodged and now sits broken in three pieces and placed on the grave. Kilrush Co Clare.’ (Kilrush Co Clare First World War Memorial Facebook Page) ‘He commanded the Indian 3rd Corps in Malaya between 1941 and 1942, and was captured in Singapore. He spent the rest of the war in Manchuria and Taiwan and retired in 1946. He was married twice and fathered six children. Charlie died in 1946, leaving a son, Captain Charles William Benson (who married Patricia Boyd, only daughter of Maj-Gen Ian Herbert Fitzgerald Boyd). He also had a daughter, Margaret Adria, who died 'under tragic circumstance' in Portugal in 1905.’ (www.turtlebunbury) He is buried in Kiltenane (Kiltinnaun, Lisdeen, Bansha Kilkee) ancient graveyard in Co. Clare. (See Clare in WW2 – The Emergency - Individual Profiles) Maurice Benson (Major Borys Iwanowicz Kuciasz Szajcuk): Born on the 22nd Oct 1922 in Kovel in Poland that later became part of the Ukraine. His parents were Leokadia and Jan. He was a pilot in the Polish Air Force and later a Major in the Russian Army. Towards the end of the war he came to England, and joined the RAF. He met and married a Miss McMahon in 1955, and they returned to Kilkee in 1959. They opened a garage, ran a caravan site and owned a pub. He also 3 changed his name to Maurice Benson. He never returned to Poland and died in 1978. (Shirley Benson) Borys Iwanowicz Kuciasz Szajcuk became a Major in the Russian Army on the 17th March 1941, and was trained in Kujbyszew in sabotage and explosives. In his diary he describes the retreat of the Russian Army in 1941 back to Moscow. He also amazingly gives details of meeting Martin Bormann (Yes - the Martin Bormann) at Hitlers bunker on the 1st May 1945, the day after Hitler committed suicide. He describes Martin Bormann as the highest paid Russian agent ($10,000 per month). ‘Stalin called him our man in Hitler’s office. He didn’t have direct connectivity with Moskva, there was a group of 10 Russian agents with whom he made contact.’ (The Diary of Borys Iwanowicz Kuciasz Szajcuk - Kayla Benson) (See Clare in WW2 – The Emergency - Individual Profiles) Thomas George Blackley: Born in Co Clare. He served with the Australian Army in WW2 (2nd Al F - NX3694), and enlisted in Paddington New South Wales. His father was Thomas Richard Blackley. (Australia, World War II Military Service Records, 1939-1945) Civilian Patrick Boyle: He was born in Kilkee in 1903. He died on the 17th March 1944 at Dallachy Aerodrome, Moray, Scotland, at the age of 41. He was the son of Mrs. James Boyle, Kilkee, and husband of Nellie Boyle, of Struan, Nether Dallachy, Spey Bay. He is buried in Bellie Graveyard, Moray, Scotland. According to the CWGC all those interred in the Moray County Cemetery are RAF related deaths. These would have been people who were perhaps killed in an air raid, or similar circumstances. (See Clare in WW2 – The Emergency - Individual Profiles) John William Brady: He was born in Co Clare on the 5th June 1924. He enlisted as an Officer in Sydney into the Royal Australian Air Force 423280. His next of kin was Grace Brady. (Australia, World War II Military Service Records, 1939-1945) Marine William Hugh Brady: Born in Co Clare on the 27th June 1899. Lived at 238 W Manheim Street, Philadelphia. He served with the US Marine Corps (440664) from Aug 1942 to April 1945. (Pennsylvania, Veteran Compensation Application Files, WWII, 1950-1966 / ancestry.com) Frederick A. Brady-Browne: Son of Captain Thomas Brady-Browne (who served in France throughout WW1) and Mabel Mayne, of Newgrove, Tulla. He was born in Newgrove in 1921, and died at his home in Longford on 5 December 2010. He was buried in St. John’s Church, Longford. ‘Frederick Brady-Browne of Newgrove, Tulla, served in the RAF as a flight engineer, keeping Hurricane fighters flying in the Middle East and North African campaigns.’ His 4 brother was Edmund Brady-Browne, and he was a cousin of Eric Shaw.(Eric Shaw) (See Clare in WW2 – The Emergency - Individual Profiles) Edmund (Eddie) N Brady-Browne: Son of Captain Thomas Brady- Browne (who served in France throughout WW1)and Mabel Mayne, of Newgrove, Tulla.